Finishing out one of our craziest months!

We have survived October 2014.  Maybe not "thrived", but we survived. :)  Thank God for that.  I have not bought any candy to pass out tomorrow yet.  Maybe that is an indicator on the month.  (No worries, the outfits are bought.  We are going to be one of 20,000,000 Frozen princesses.  Surprise surprise, haha!)

Our family photos two Monday nights ago turned out great (Alexis with A Studio Productions is AMAZING and works serious magic), all considering with a toddler and 10 month old!  I will post those separately, but for now I will post my phone photos to catch up with this past week and a half.

 I flew out for a Nerium conference in Long Beach, Cali on Thursday last week (Rose's 10 month birthday), so Chet did his best and sent me this photo for her 10 month bday shot.  :)  I love it because it says a lot about Daddy's love for his girls. 

 A couple shots of some of my team and me at LB.

Such a special relationship Whitney and I have.  She was my maid of honor in our wedding, and boy oh boy we have come a long way since college days.  She has a heart for the Lord that is on fire and so contagious.  I love this girl and I couldn't be happier we are in Nerium together.

 Hannah and Levi hamming it up!

 Hannah and I on the carousel. 

 Levi is the sweetest little guy!

My brother Joel and his family drove down to Long Beach from Fresno to spend some time with me there.  That was a special treat - I sure have the sweetest, cutest little nephews and nieces!  I love his family and wish we lived closer.  His jokes are annoyingly funny. :)

I flew back home Saturday night and we visited The Village church in Flower Mound Sunday.  It immediately felt like "home" to both of us.  It was crazy how much we both felt like this could be our church home.

Chet snapped some photos of us girls on our way to church :).

Rose Catherine turned 44 weeks old on Monday! 
She is so full of life and personality right now!  She is strong-willed, so we happen to have a house full of strong women. ;)  Poor Chet.

Rose is working on eliminating her morning nap.  I am on the fence about this; by 1pm she is absolutely melting down, but she refuses to sleep in the morning.  This frees up our mornings quite a bit, so that is the good side of this.

 We couldn't resist taking some photos of Rose in an outfit Grey wore at 19/20 months last fall and winter!  Crazy!!

 dreamy.

 Just a few more of the cuties this week:

 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.  In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.  May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you.  Psalm 33:20-22

43 Weeks - and blogging two days in a row!

 I am having way too much fun comparing their weeks on this laptop! ;)  It even means I am blogging two days in a row - and even ON a Monday!!

I am not ending with a scripture reference, because I am urging all of you readers to check out 2 Kings.  It is where I am in my reading, and the stories in there are SO RICH and somewhat trippy.  Seriously.  I know the OT is not the easiest to get through in ways, but God's character is revealed in such amazing ways.  You'll also learn some amazing stories.

42 Weeks

I had to post this of BOTH girls at 42 weeks.  When I saved this photo to the laptop, I realized there were two "42 weeks" on here.  I blog for Rose on our main computer, and I did all of Grey's weekly blogs on this laptop.  I wish I would've done this comparison more often.  HOW FUN! :)

Our little redheaded sunshine turned 42 weeks on Monday, and of course it is Sunday when I am blogging...and probably blogging for 43 tomorrow.  ;)  That's how I roll lately.

Rose is full of attitude, joy, can wave hi and is literally pulling up on everything.  Because of her curious, vivacious personality, she has sadly experienced some bumps and bruises lately.  She is LOVING "big people" food and wants to feed herself.  She is already getting her sense of independence.  Rose loves to be read to, and can pay attention to stories VERY well for her age.  She is a snuggler and still wakes up several times to eat at night.  (We know this is a mild parent fail, but we are okay with it.) :)  We are so blessed by this little person in our home.

Last weekend we spent time in Brady for Kayson's 8th birthday.  SUCH a blast at the airport for his WWII themed party.  This party will be tough to beat!  How many 8 year olds get to have a party in a hangar?

I made a quick trip to Lubbock this week for a Texas Tech awards luncheon, which was fun.  Tisha and Valerie met me there and we had a wonderful time together.  Such an honor.  Because it was the 15th of October, Tisha surprised me with balloons to send up to Holden and his friends.  We took a couple photos with the girls and me before I left.  Such a sweet way to spend National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

Tomorrow we have family photos.  WISH US LUCK.  ha.

Tuesday and Wednesday Chet will be in Midland, and I fly to Long Beach for a Nerium conference Thursday through Saturday.  Let's just say October is a wee bit crazy.  I am longing for slow days of November and December.

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4

New life in our new town!

I am dreadfully behind on blogging.  I never have thought of throwing in the towel and quitting blogging like I did this past week, because being this far behind overwhelms me.  However, I decided there's no way I can quit now, since Rose isn't even 1.  So bear with me please.

This blog will be a whole lot of randomness: like two weeks of weekly photos, new home info, Rose's 9 month appointment stats at our new pediatrician, and updates on life in our new city!

We officially moved on Saturday the 27th of September to McKinney.  The process leading up to moving day was nothing short of a miraculous insanity.  Let's just say we are happy it actually happened.  We arrived here at 10pm on Saturday evening, and my PRECIOUS, AMAZING sister and nephew Kayson met us here that evening.  It was probably the worst drive to date with the girls (and cat), so by the time we got everyone calmed down and happy, it was 1am.  1am and I didn't know where I stashed diapers and formula.  So off I went searching for a place open at 1am in McKinney.  Bed by 3:30ish.

We all woke up extra early Sunday morning (that two hour nap was great) to start unloading the Penske truck and vehicles while I had my sister's help with the girls.  I really do not know if we would've been able to do it without Charys here.  I collapsed in tears when she had to drive home that afternoon.  By Wednesday that first week though, we had every box unpacked and the house all livable.  Thank goodness...I can't even tell you how much I missed using real dishes and living like a real family in a real home. :)  If I never see another box or paper plate in my life it'll be too soon.  The same goes for paint and paint brushes...

Because we are trying to save money, we "ingeniously"decided to buy used furniture for the girls' rooms, and paint it ourselves.  Ahem...myself.  So amidst a move with Chet back to work, I have been painting furniture, our master bathroom (it was a greenish-yellowish-brown we could not live with) a grey color (same grey we used in the Wolfforth master), Grey's room an icy mint color - and we still have Rose's room left to paint in an icy coral color.  So by the time we are done painting, as much as I love to paint, I can go without ever seeing a paint brush again.

Our home started to feel like home this past weekend.  I looked around and realize we are so blessed and privileged to call this our home on earth.  It is crazy that we are here and it is real.  We have LOVED this area!  Our neighbors are practically out of some Leave it to Beaver set; all so kind and welcoming! There are 5 different grocery stores within walking distance, and we have not had to drive more than 10 minutes to anything.  The air is clean, no dust, and the town is immaculate. 

In the time we have been here, we have been exploring the area a little each day.  Chet turned 32 on Wednesday the 1st (which was a day filled with fun like painting and hanging pictures haha), we visited Hope Fellowship Church on Sunday, and took the girls to the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm in Celina this after church, etc.  Today we went on our first playdate at an incredible park in Frisco with new friends.  What a blessing...we miss our friendships in West Texas. :(
I plan to take interior photos of the place soon...just want to have the girls' rooms both completed by the time I do.  I have yet to buy bedding for them as we are trying to save money and not use credit for the home.  So that could be another month or so.
This weekend we head to Brady for Kayson's birthday party.  Then we head to Lubbock for an award I received at Tech next week.  Then the next week I travel to Long Beach for work.  October is certainly a month to keep us going!

This will suffice as her one and only "40 week photo" taken.  Bless.  Good thing she is so darn cute it doesn't matter if I had the prop or not.

This week's attempt wasn't much better.  I need to figure out HOW I am going to be taking these weekly photos with a kiddo who is pulling up and moving at lightning speeds! 

Rose had her 9 month appointment yesterday at Dr. M's office.  We absolutely fell in love with her and loved how thorough she was in listening to us and our daughters' histories.  Chet rushed there from a work meeting downtown so he could meet our new pediatrician, and he felt the same way.  Dr. M truly got to know the girls, didn't make Rose lay on the table (she was in our arms for the WHOLE appointment), and was calm and soothing.  Love. 

Rose's 9 month well check stats:

 18 lbs. 11 oz - 55% weight

28 1/2" - 74% height

17 1/2" head - 62%

Rose is super duper healthy and developing perfectly.  Praises to Jesus.

 

 We bought pumpkins and mums that Monday we moved in, and Grey was so excited! 

Home sweet home! :)

I snapped some photos last week of the girls by the front door.  My camera lens WOULD NOT focus, but a few of them are not terribly blurry.  They are too sweet to not post:

 

Also some snapshots of the pumpkin patch:

There are few things I should close with in regards to us becoming professional movers and the life we are living these past couple weeks:
1.  Get a tranquilizer from your vet for your animal before moving.  They are miraculous.  (Except it wore off around Weatherford.)
2.  Be okay with pizza...and hamburgers.  Life will get healthy again sometime.  Just embrace the burger and donuts.
3.  Meet the neighbors.  We are so grateful for neighbors who went out of their way to make us feel welcome here.  I wish I would've been a better neighbor in all the places we've lived in.  We have already been in some of their homes here.  So sweet.
4.  Let go of perfect.

God has shown me so much lately.  He is good and He is doing abundant things in our lives.  Leaving our lives and home (and Holden's resting place) in West Texas was certainly bittersweet, but God has been so gentle with my heart here.  I am praying for good fellowship and roots established in this area.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10 has been in my heart through this whole process.  I am upheld.